As Thane disappeared into the next room, Cedric trailing behind him, I found myself wanting to scream. Had he just been playing on my emotions, to see how I'd react? And who was he really - the academy student with a strange sense of humor and hatred of the rules, or the steel-eyed rebel leader who carried true compassion for no one?

I turned and pushed the door open, stepping out into the brisk darkness. The sun had already mostly disappeared and a spell of cloud cover had already ...